Nicholas Galitzine Says His ‘Idea of You’ Boy Band Star Is ‘Very Different’ Than Harry Styles: ‘We Want Him to Exist in His Own World’
Nicholas Galitzine recently addressed the comparisons between Harry Styles and Galitzine’s character in “The Idea of You,” where he plays the 24-year-old lead singer of a popular boy band who falls in love with Anne Hathaway’s character — a 40-year-old single mom.
“It’s funny because it’s not a comparison that I’ve ever made,” Galitzine told Variety’s Marc Malkin at the Vanity Fair Oscars Party. “But people really like to make it. Hayes Campbell, the man I’m playing, is a very different character and we want him to exist in his own world.”
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When asked if Styles would be attending the film’s premiere on the closing night of SXSW, the actor responded: “I don’t know him personally. Harry, if you’re in Austin, Texas, in the next week come along and chill with Annie and I.”
“The Idea of You,” based on Robinne Lee’s novel of the same name, chronicles the relationship between Solène (Hathaway) and Hayes (Galitzine). The two meet at Coachella when Solène takes her daughter to see Hayes’ band, August Moon. This sparks an unexpected romance between them, forcing Solène to balance her career, her obligations to her teenage daughter and the 24-hour news cycle surrounding her relationship.
While Galitzine’s character was rumored to be inspired by Styles, Lee told Vogue in 2020 that “inspired is a strong word.” She explained that “the seed was planted” for the novel while researching One Direction in 2017 and finding out that Styles often dated older women. However, Lee also named Prince Harry, her ex-boyfriends, her husband and Eddie Redmayne as inspiration for Hayes. Despite these other inspirations, the comparisons to Styles persisted, likely due to scenes she had written eerily playing out in Styles’ life. For example, Lee wrote a scene where the paparazzi catch Solène and Hayes in a compromising position on a yacht — and later, similar photos of Styles and Kendall Jenner were released.
“The Idea of You” will stream globally on Prime Video starting May 2.
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